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Thursday, August 25, 2011

Carrot Jam Recipe

Carrot jam

I had plenty of carrots in the refrigerator and I thought why not make carrot jam. I had never heard of carrot jam but why not, you have jam made from pretty much any fruit, some vegetables and even meat like bacon. An internet search revealed that carrot jam does exist.

I noticed that there are two methods for making carrot jam. The first method is much simpler, carrots and sugar are cooked together until the jam is set. The second method requires the carrots to be first cooked in water until soft, passed through a sieve and cooked with sugar.

I started making jam using the first easier method but it wasn’t a success. Instead of jam I ended up with ‘carrot candy’ – bits of dried carrot coated with candy. It was really delicious to eat, though it was not what I was looking for. I don’t know what I did wrong. Perhaps I chopped the carrots too finely and cooked them in syrup for too long and they dried out. I tried to rescue the failed carrot jam by separately boiling and pureeing carrots, adding to the ‘carrot candy’ and cookiing for about 5 minutes. This worked perfectly. In case you end up with carrot candy instead of carrot jam, now you know what to do.

I have presented below two versions of the recipe. I have not tried each one separately so I cannot comment on how good they are but they do come from reputable sources. If you are going to attempt the first easier method, puree the carrots as soon as they turn soft. If you don’t the carrots may turn hard and not combine well with the syrup.

1. Cut carrots into round pieces, put them into a saucepan with sufficient water to cover them, and let them simmer until perfectly soft

2. Pass the carrot through sieve

3. Weigh the pulp, and to every 450g/1lb, allow the above ingredients

4. Put the pulp into a preserving-pan with the sugar, and let this boil for 5 minutes, stirring and skimming all the time.

5. When cold, add the lemon-rind and juice, almonds and brandy; mix these well with the jam; then put it into pots which must be well covered and kept in a dry place. The brandy may be omitted, but the preserve will then not keep; with the brandy it will keep for months

Carrot jam... interesting :) we have a dessert in India called 'carrot halwa' where grated carrot is cooked with sugar, milk, cardamom and clarified butter... it is very popular! This jam sounds nice and so does the candy! :)

Cher: I think I will post the recipe for carrot candy sometime, if I can successfully recreate it!

ping: the jam does not taste of carrots. I guess you don't taste much raw carrot in cakes either, and you don't like carrot cake. So probably you may not like jam, but there's only one way to find out:)

The Harried Cook: I've heard about carrot halva, would love to try it. Will definitely try making it soon. Sounds sort of similar to jam but with added ghee and milk.